Packaging Blogs

West Contract Manufacturing

August 18, 2014

Smart Metrology – The Next Step in Speeding Up Development Cycles: Gage Repeatability and Reproducibility

The Tech Group’s Keith Calvert recently contributed a three-part blog on metrology to Medical Design Technology. The following is from Part 2.

Measurement system development is a time-consuming task that process development teams often underestimate. The amount of information and data collected during development can be overwhelming. Measurement system analysis (MSA) helps to quiet the noise and allows the team to focus in on meaningful information, which gives everyone peace of mind. MSAs ensure data from the process, and are as accurate as can be with the chosen system/method adding limited variation.

A developmental team tasked with building four class 102 pilot tools must define:
• material/part shrink information (critical to quality and critical to function steel safe dimensions)
• gate design/fill characteristics (melt flow)
• cooling profile
• overall production tool designs

A developed measurement system’s data accuracy plays a considerable role in allowing a team to make correct decisions for each information point. Based on the critical need and accuracy of the information, team members should choose data from a challenged and qualified robust system. Too many shortfalls can occur from using a non-qualified measurement system, the two biggest being cost and time.

Read the full blog here: http://medicaldesign.com/blog/smart-metrology-next-step-speeding-development-cycles-part-2